CHARGES IN FATAL BREONNA TAYLOR RAID

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The U.S. Justice Department has charged four Louisville police officers involved in the deadly Breonna Taylor raid with civil rights violations.

Federal charges against former Officers Joshua Jaynes and Brett Hankison, along with current Officer Kelly Goodlett and Sgt. Kyle Meany, were announced by U.S. Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland on Thursday. Louisville police said they are seeking to fire Goodlett and Meany.

Garland said federal officials “share but cannot fully imagine the grief” felt by Taylor’s family.

“Breonna Taylor should be alive today,” he said.

Taylor, a 26-year-old Black medical worker, was shot to death in March 2020 by Louisville officers who had knocked down her door while executing a search warrant. Taylor’s boyfriend fired a shot that hit one of the officers as they came through the door and they returned fire, striking Taylor multiple times.

Hankison, who was dismissed from the department in 2020, was one of the officers at Taylor’s door and one of three who fired shots that night. He was acquitted by a jury of state charges of wanton endangerment earlier this year in Louisville.

Jaynes had applied for the warrant to search Taylor’s house. He was fired in January 2021 for violating department standards in the preparation of a search warrant execution and for being “untruthful” in the Taylor warrant.